The Rooney Rule is ineffective
Televised national sports, especially football, is a major aspect of our society. With the Super Bowl just occurring last month, it’s a bit hard to ignore. The Rooney Rule was put in place to encourage diversity in the coaching ranks, but it is clear that it is a flawed system that feeds into the stigmatization of the minority status.
Former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams, alleging racial discrimination. Flores notes the disparity between the racial makeup of NFL players, nearly 60 percent of whom are Black. This is in great contrast to the racial makeup of team owners, management and coaching ranks which as of now, only one head coach among 32 teams is Black. This is especially dishonorable considering that studies show that Black coaches actually had better records than many white coaches.
Flores’ suit calls the NFL’s Rooney Rule a failure, which was intended to require all NFL teams to interview candidates from historically underrepresented minority groups for head coaching and senior operation vacancies. “ Rooney Rule may have been well-intentioned. However, well-intentioned or not, what is clear is that the Rooney Rule is not working,” Flores said.
It is great that teams are interviewing candidates from historically underrepresented groups for top jobs like head coach or general manager. However, doing it strictly because of a rule and facilitating sham interviews whilst also not having any actual intention of hiring them is the opposite of progress.
After his encounter with the Denver Broncos, Flores said he went into it feeling like it was for no other reason than compliance with the Rooney Rule. Flores described his experience by noting that he was kept waiting for up to an hour and then when he was finally called in, it seemed clear his interviewers were unprepared.” I was treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with,” Flores said.
Not only did the Rooney Rule fail to diversify the coaching ranks but also abused the minority status of candidates, which stigmatizes them and overshadows their qualifications. It’s simply not enough for the NFL to declare its good intentions. With little to no enforcement plan, the NFL treats the Rooney Rule like an excuse as opposed to a plan of action.
